Juice Me?

I try not to fall prey to trends, especially because living and working in Los Angeles, you find trends around every corner. For a while now I've heard people rave about juicing. There are plenty of popular juice cleanse establishments out here - namely Press Juicery and Moon Juice.

Their basic principles state that it takes approximately 18 hours before your body eliminates one meal. Being that our digestive system is working nearly all the time, we need to detoxify it somehow. That's where juice cleanses come in. Per Pressed Juicery, "Cleansing is an optimal way to give our adult bodies the break they deserve while also keeping ourselves energized and nutritionally satisfied." They recommend beginning with a 3-day cleanse, where you drink only a specified amount of juice per day and no food. These aren't your typical Tropicana juices - there is no added sugar or preservatives so each bottle only lasts a few days. After your body gets used to it, you can increase the duration of your cleanses. You can cleanse as often as once a month, or with each change of season. You are also encouraged to incorporate juices into your everyday diet. With this, you should still maintain a healthy diet and juices are added to give you extra nutrients. Keep in mind that if you are not cleansing, juices should not be meal replacements.

When people in Hollywood started this juice trend, I rebelled against it. Then everyone in my office joined the bandwagon. Again, I rebelled. While I'm not sure about the health claims (I mean, it is good for you to incorporate this into your everyday life just for the fruit and veggie nutrients), it can get SO expensive. For a day's worth of juice you can expect a charge of $75. For juice. Really? I just could not justify it. Recently, though, especially after feeling the lethargy of holiday meals I was keen to try a cleanse to restart my system. What is one to do? I went out and bought myself a juicer in the post-Christmas sales.

I got the Dash Premium Juicer and started straight away. Since I still have family visiting through the New Year, I thought it would be a good idea to start incorporating juices into my diet before I go for the all out 3-day cleanse. This juicer is amazing. I hadn't used one in years so I wasn't sure what to expect. It is powerful, extracts every last bit of juice from fruits and veggies, and is extremely easy to clean. Everything I could ask for!

My first juice was something called the Blood of Life and was recommended to me by a friend. It is quite a bright taste and definitely gives your taste buds a wake up. I absolutely loved it. I'm experimenting with different combinations and adding more greens into every juice. I actually think it is a great replacement for coffee in the mornings as it is obviously more nutritionally beneficial, and depending on the ingredients, definitely wakes you up. I got a great deal on the juicer and buy my fruits and veggies in bulk (thanks, Costco!) so my price per juice ends up being substantially less than these trendy juice bars.

Blood of Life Juice
2-3 beets
3 lemons
8 carrots
1 inch piece of ginger









I definitely suggest going for it if you are curious! Let me know what your favorite combinations are!

xoxo
Kiki

I'm French, now...

Let's face facts - I'm a horrible blogger. In daily life, I feel like I have a lot to say but when it comes to writing a blog post I freeze. I look at the screen - tabula rasa, if you will - and I go blank. I feel like I haven't done anything interesting enough to merit a blog post. I want to set a precedence that I will update this blog when I have an interesting idea, but new posts should not be expected consistently.

That being the case, last week I made eclairs :)

For my first attempt, they came out really well. I am my own worst critic, though, and felt like the pastry cream filling could have been a little lighter in texture. I took a few to work the next morning, and got rave reviews from everyone that tried them!

What have you made lately? 

xo

Like White On Rice

I'd love to say that I'm the epitome of a Los Feliz hipster. The girl that wears Ray Ban Wayfarers and a straw fedora. She's beautiful, graceful, and has flawless style. You expect to see her buying locally at farmer's markets and vintage shopping by day, and hitting up an indie music show by night. She is effortlessly cool.

Let's be honest -- I'm not that girl. I work crazy hours, and enjoy staying in wearing my ridiculously unflattering sweats whenever I get the chance. But lately I've been making a conscious effort to go out and enjoy Los Angeles. There are little gems all over this place worth being discovered. Recently I've been stumbling into antique malls. These places are awesome. You can feel slightly overwhelmed when you first walk in. The sheer volume of crap in there can be intimidating. I don't go in with a plan, or a shopping list. If something speaks to me, I respond.

Case in point - milk glass. Damn, it's my new "thing." On a recent trip to the Sherman Oaks Antique Mall I stumbled on a milk glass collection. I wanted every piece. Being mindful of my wallet (and just being realistic), I decided to pick just one. I love the look of it filled with these ranunculus. And now I have an excuse to buy fresh flowers!

After spending time at the race track this afternoon with friends, we stopped by Old Town Pasadena to fill our tummies. Lo and behold, I see a sign for the Pasadena Antique Mall. SOLD! Of course I make everyone come with me and look around. I didn't go around looking for more milk glass. The way I see it, IT found ME. How could I say no? How could I deny it?

I couldn't. So now it's mine. And I think this is a start to a dangerous little collection. I feel like that Los Feliz hipster might have a milk glass collection, too. Maybe I'm not as far removed from her as I had originally thought?

NAHHHH...

xo

Heart to Heart

Being the internet junkie that I am, I've always heard rave reviews of Etsy. I've even spent countless hours browsing the site and bookmarking things I want (productive, I know). I was just never brave enough to pull the trigger and actually buy something. Be it my sincere disdain for online shopping, or the fact that I don't actually trust that the products I order will arrive to my satisfaction, I tend not to make purchases. But with my 25th birthday quickly approaching, and the start of a new job looming, I decided - damn it - I'm going to treat myself to something frivolous from Etsy!

Enter Big and Little Copper Heart rings.

FancyBrandRings

I was looking for something dainty enough to wear everyday; something that could be worn alone, or layered with other jewelry to give a cool bohemian vibe (yeah, I said it). This set called to me as soon as I saw it. I've worn these rings everyday since they arrived in my mailbox.

I struggle with jewelry. I want trendy pieces, and timeless pieces. I want all my jewelry to be quality so that I don't get a tell-tale green ring around my fingers. Because of this, places like Forever 21 are the bane of my existence. I see cute pieces, but nothing lasts for more than a handful of months before tarnishing.

Cinda, of Fancy Brand Rings, has convinced me to make more Etsy purchases. The pieces aren't mass produced, are made with quality and attention to detail (depending on the seller), and gives you the opportunity to support independent designers.

Thanks, Cinda!

Second firsts

While my first foray into blogging was not successful - posts few and far between - I hope that this second attempt will prove more fruitful. This blog will include whatever I am interested in...beauty, fashion, vintage shopping, food and the like. To start things off on the right foot, below is how I spent my morning:

Sadly, my first attempt at macarons was awful. Last night I was browsing TasteSpotting (one of my favorite foodie hangouts!), and stumbled upon multiple macaron recipes. They all looked amazing and I felt inspired, so off to Whole Foods I went for supplies. My first batch kept me up until midnight and did not get the token macaron "feet" upon baking. I was too tired (and defeated) to make a second batch but I swore I would try agin today. Well take that, macarons! Not only were they successful, but they looked like they came right out of Bottega Louie.

Til next time!

Kiki